


Winter Wonderland

by SearchingWolf



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Crew as Family, F/M, Fluff, Fun, Racing, Sledding, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 05:25:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11247204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SearchingWolf/pseuds/SearchingWolf
Summary: The gang heads out for some fun on Veold!





	Winter Wonderland

"Explain to me again what the hell we are doing freezing our butts off out here for?"

Peebee's voice wavered slightly as her teeth chattered and she bundled a little further into her large coats. Ryder grinned at her, stretching to keep herself warm in the snow. She had managed to get the entire gang out of the ship, and they now stood overlooking a large hill that dipped down steeply in front of them.

"We are teaching Jaal just exactly what he and the rest of his people have been missing with all this wonderful snow at their feet!" Ryder exclaimed, extending her arms to show the vast expanse of snow in front of them. She grinned at Peebee who huffed and shuffled her feet.

"I have my doubts about this, Ryder," Jaal questioned, and Liam laughed and nudged his shoulder.

"I have to agree with Mr. Darav," SAM said in her ear,

"Not getting...cold feet, are we?" Liam laughed, which gained a universal groan from the whole group.

"Come on, Sam! This is a crucial part of the human experience!" Ryder pleaded.

"Let's get on with it, before my quads freeze off," Drack said gruffly, so Ryder got started.

"Ok, so you take your sled and put it down in front of you," Ryder explained as she set down the re purposed sheet of metal she had found. The Angara were confused when she got excited about finding them in their pile of useless materials, but they seemed amused and so let her take what she wanted. "Now, I could only find so many, so we are going to have to double up."

She ran around and helped everyone get situated sitting on their makeshift sleds. Kall and Suvi were sharing one, Suvi giggling happily in front because Kallo needed to stretch his legs around her. Cora and Vetra were sharing one, and Gil and Jaal were sharing one. Poor Drack took up almost the entire sled, but Peebee gleefully jumped on his back to ride him as the sled. When everyone was situated, Ryder ran back to her sled, pulling Liam by the hand behind her. She sat on her sled and scooted forward to let Liam sit behind her, and her cheeks flushed as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Someone let out a wolf whistle and Liam chuckled loudly as Ryder blushed even more.

"Ok! Are we ready?" Ryder called out. There were mixed enthusiastic and doubtful cheers, and Ryder leaned forward to make sure everyone was ready. "On the count of three, everyone pushes off and down we go. Whoever loses has to buy drinks at next shore leave!"

The breeze blew snowflakes around them and Ryder felt a slight lurch in her stomach as she looked down the hill that suddenly seemed a lot longer and steeper than it had before.

"On your mark! Get set! GO!"

She used her hand to help Liam push them, and suddenly they were flying down the hill. They started off slow and then began gaining speed, and Ryder let out an exhilarated shriek as they rushed down. She felt Liam hooping and hollering behind her, and she leaned back against him. He squeezed her middle and applied a quick kiss to the side of her neck, and if they weren't currently rushing through the snow, she would have thought her face had caught on fire as she blushed heavily. 

Ryder looked sideways and busted up laughing as she saw the rest of the crew plummeting down with them. Kallo and Suvi were both screaming as they went, and Jaal and Gil were attempting to steer as their sled sped onward. Cora and Vetra were in a moving snowball fight with Jaal and Gil, the latter who was surprisingly holding his own as they went. Peebee, who was still perched on Drack's back, was attempting to fire back at them all the best she could. Ryder heard someone yelling something about cheating as Cora used her biotics to launch a particularly large snowball right at Peebee, who tried to duck behind Drack and almost managed to fall off as they kept sledding.

Ryder laughed and turned forward, when Sam suddenly warned her to make a sudden turn. She let out a shriek as she noticed a large lump ahead of them. Too late her and Liam tried to steer away from it but they hit it full speed and were suddenly airborne. They both heard the others yelling and cheering them on as they flew through the air, and Ryder felt absolutely happy and free.

That is, until they hit the ground and the sled went out from under them. Ryder tipped to the right and went rolling and tumbling, until she finally came to a stop in a huge puff of snow. Just as she shook herself off to get up, Liam poofed into the snow right behind her, laughing and breathless. He jumped to his feet and pulled Ryder with him, then spun her around in a circle as she laughed.

Just as they both turned to see how everyone else fared, they heard "LOOK OUT!!" and Cora and Vetra rushed at them, knocking their feet out from under then. They all skidded some more and stumbled to a stop, a giant heap of limbs and snow, laughing and yelling.

When everyone finally got up, brushed off the snow and made sure no one was hurt, they went to see how the other's made out. SAM helped them count off who made it first and who made it last. Suvi and Kallo had managed to sled almost all the way back to the ship, so they got the winning points. Liam and Ryder were ruled to come in second, because no one else had gone airborne. Next came Cora and Vetra, who got points for taking out Liam and Ryder. Gil and Jaal came in second to last because Gil was the best at the moving snowball fight, and Jaal's eyes were bright and sparkling as he begged to go again. Drack and Peebee came in last, because at some point Peebee had accidentally pulled Drack off to the side with her, and they both never made it to the bottom of the hill, which had earned Peebee a whitewash from Drack. Her face was bright red but she was smiling and laughing.

"Well Jaal, think it was worth it?" Ryder asked, and Jaal nodded enthusiastically. He and the others started marching through the snow back to the ship to warm up with some fresh, dry clothes and some hot chocolate. They were all planning strategies for their next round, with SAM occasionally piping in to make a suggestion. Liam and Ryder hung together at the back, and Ryder took Liam's hand as they walked. He stopped and pulled her to him, smiling.

"Well done, Ryder. Couldn't have done it better myself. Heck this is almost better than movie night!" Liam said, and Ryder laughed.

"What can I say? I had to show everyone how fun the snow can be!" Ryder responded, and Liam chuckled.

"It'd be even better with this," he said softly, and he brought his lips softly to hers. Her face flushed as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back, before they broke apart and headed for the ship, arms wrapped around each other's waists.


End file.
